Features

My grandparents lived on a farm in Ft. Wayne, Ind. When they were living, we would gather there every Thanksgiving with my family, grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins. They owned a turkey farm so it was always an incredibly busy time of the year.

However, when it came time to sit down at their old wooden table, we would give thanks for the blessings of the year and enjoy a meal together. As the years went by, my grandparents passed away and the table and traditions were brought to Indianapolis to my mom’s house.

The newest member of the Arts Association of Oldham County is music to the community’s ears.

Choral voices filled Gallery 104 in La Grange last Thursday, members of the Oldham County Singers sang a collection of art themed songs to mark their entry into the Arts Association of Oldham County. The group is the first performing arts member to join the association.

In the 1950s, Edward R. Murrow’s radio program “This I Believe” gave voice to the core values and treasured beliefs of Americans around the country. Sixty years later, the popular update of the series, which has been featured on NPR and now continues on Bob Edwards Weekend on satellite and public radio, explores the beliefs that people hold dear today.

The room was a buzz with cheerful hellos as men in patriotic lapel pins set out extra chairs for the unexpected large audience. The mood quickly shifted to a silent sense of dignity as Ned Snow, commander of American Legion Post #39, took to the lectern to open the annual Veteran’s Day program at the John Black Community Center in Buckner Monday.

The La Grange Farmers Market and Artisans will host two Winter Bazaars. The Bazaars, slated for Nov. 16 and Dec. 14 will be held at the La Grange Community Center on 307 West Jefferson Street in La Grange from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Over 25 vendors will have a variety of value-added farm products, crafts, art and gift items. Lunch will be proivded by Nourishment For You and all shoppers can enter to win a Market Basket. For more information, visit www.lagrangefarmersmarket.com.

Jon and Sylvia Bednarski just wanted to do things the right way when they began developing their farm some 13 years ago. They didn’t expect to be rewarded for it.

The Bednarski’s were recently named the 2013 Kentucky Leopold Conservation Award recipients for the conservation efforts they’ve undertaken at their Sherwood Acres Farm. The award, from the Sand County Foundation and the Kentucky Agricultural Council, honors a Kentucky landowner for their “achievement in voluntary stewardship and management of natural resources.”

Ask Andrea Essenpreis how she got started in business and she’ll tell you it all began when she had a baby just over nine years ago.

“I had a corporate job, sitting at a desk in a nice office,” Essenpreis said. “After I had my first child, I quit my day job to be at home with him. I soon found myself baking…a lot. I had always been a hobbyist baker, but it was like I had a need or compulsion. I had to bake “all the time.”

Even after 30 years of preaching with the same church Pastor Greg Allen still comes in every day excited and ready to work. At the rate Southeast Christian church is growing, especially on Allen’s Crestwood campus, his workload is likely to increase but he said he’s ok with that.

Fred Balke and Howard Griffin, both of Crestwood, remembering their day’s in WW II, while on a tour of the LST 325 while it was docked at Madison, Ind. Balke served as a See Bee in the U.S. Navy in the South Pacific, while Griffin served in the U.S. Army all over the world.

On Saturday, Discover Downtown La Grange (DDL) hosted the first Antiques and Primitives on the Track. Business on Main Street held open door and sidewalk sales, while vendors set up shop along the closed roadway. The new event was well received, according to DDL Director Nancy Griffin. “The merchants and vendors were very pleased and we’ve already been asked to do it again.”

Over 200 competitors from 15 states and Canada converged on the Flying Cross Horse Farm in Skylight this past weekend. Riders and horses competed in three events: dressage, stadium jumping and cross country. In its 13th year, the Horse Trials have had a waiting list for three years of hopeful competitors, who range in age from 10 to 70+.

In its second year, the 2013 Hermitage Classic drew 36 competitors to its ever evolving course. Much like the events held at the Flying Cross Farm Horse Trials, riders must compete in three events: dressage, marathon and cones. The primary difference is that these course events are completed with the horse, or team of two horses, pulling a cart with a driver and sometimes a passenger.